Margarida Lima de Faria

When her daughter came out, Margarida Lima de Faria, sociologist and researcher, decided to take a stand for LGBT rights. She and her husband are the founders of AMPLOS, a Portuguese association of parents and allies of LGBT. Since 2009 she has worked with families for the acceptance of their gay, lesbian, and transgender members. She has also been committed to fight discrimination by advocating for legal rights in Portuguese legislation.

The work of AMPLOS has been extended to intervention in schools and in the Portuguese community. AMPLOS is currently defending gender non-conforming children and fighting for safe and gender neutral school environments. AMPLOS’s parents march every year in the Lisbon Pride Parade. Margarida is also the vice-president of the Association FDS – Familias por la Diversidad Sexual – that gathers parents’ associations of 22 Latin American countries, Spain and Portugal. In June 2016, FDS will hold its VI Convención in San José, Costa Rica.